Terrance Ferguson and an Examination of Elite NBA Draft Talent Selected Outside of the Lottery

This past Monday, the Boston Celtics traded the number one pick in the 2017 NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers for the number 3 pick and a future pick (a protected 2018 pick from the Los Angeles Lakers or an unprotected 2019 from the Sacramento Kings).

My first thought was, “Ooooh Danny, what is you doing baby?” Then I thought to rush over to TheRinger.com to get the thoughts of my favorite Boston Celtics fan and sports personality Bill Simmons.

On the Ringer NBA Podcast, Simmons, TheRinger.com staff writer Kevin O’Connor, and TheRinger.com Executive Editor Chris Ryan were doing their best Trump media surrogate impersonation trying to make sense of why Danny Ainge would do some silly shit like trading the number one pick (i.e. Markelle Fultz) for lessor draft assets.

In summary, Simmons, O’Connor, and Ryan surmised that Danny Ainge views the talent in the 2017 NBA draft as so similar at the top of the draft, that a team can get the draft’s best player in the later lottery.  Moreover, they advocated if Ainge could get the best player at number three and add an additioanal asset, then it is a smart personnel decision. They highlighted the 1998 and 1999 drafts as examples of when players like Dirk Nowitski, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, and Shawn Marion had better (or more impactful) careers than the players drafted first (Michael Oluwokandi and Elton Brand) in those drafts.

Upon hearing this, I immediately thought this was an illogical attempt from Simmons, O’Connor, and Ryan to cape for Simmons’ homie Danny Ainge. Today, NBA franchises are much smarter than they were in 1998 and 1999 and teams pour far more resources into the draft than they did in 1998 & 1999.

However, the thought of identifying elite NBA draft talent is an interesting exploration. I’ve always been perplexed with how, almost annually, elite NBA talent falls outside of the lottery picks.  The following is an examination of elite talent (and other lottery level talent) that fell outside of the lottery and a nomination of the player in the 2017 draft that fits this profile.

Elite Talent Selected Outside of the Lottery Since 2000

In the new millennium, All-NBA and All-Star level talent regularly fell out of the lottery in the NBA draft. Michael Redd, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Carlos Boozer, Rajon Rondo, Paul Millsap, Marc Gasol, Deandre Jordan, Goran Dragic, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Nikola Jokic (Jokic has yet to make an All-NBA team or All-Star team but NBA consensus is that he is sure to do so if he stays healthy) are all examples.

Since 2012, there frequency of these occurrences has slowed some. I am of the opinion that NBA franchises, then suffering from financial strain and personnel mismanagement that led to the 2011 NBA lock-out, saw that emerging teams with elite level young talent on cheap rookie-scale contracts (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, etc.), placed a greater emphasis on identifying these players and their cheap services.

The 2011 and 2012 NBA Draft

Let’s look at the 2011 and 2012 NBA drafts. In 2011, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, and Isaiah Thomas (drafted 15, 30, and 60 respectively) were players drafted outside of the lottery that went on to become All-Star and All-NBA players. In 2012 (after the NBA lock-out), the only player in the draft selected outside of the lottery that went on to become an All-NBA/All-Star caliber player was Draymond Green.

Skeptics of this theory would simply propose that the 2011 NBA simply had better talent. But if we look back to reports, 2011 was considered a down draft while 2012 was considered a great draft, flush with talent. Moreover, if 2012 had lessor talent, a player of Draymond Green’s skill-set should have been easier to identify among his peers with supposed lessor talent.

Let’s look at the primary characteristics valued by NBA evaluators of the elite-talent players in the 2011 and 2012 draft that fell outside of the lottery.

Player	Valuable NBA Attributes
Kawhi Leonard	Athleticism, Strength, Wingspan, Large Hands, Positional Versatility, Lateral Movement
Jimmy Butler	Athleticism, Strength, Wingspan, Large Hands, Positional Versatility, Lateral Movement
Isaiah Thomas	Quickness, Shooting
Draymond Green	Wingspan, Positional Versatility

Let’s look at the consensus characteristics that caused these players to drop outside of the lottery.

Player	Deficiencies
Kawhi Leonard	Shooting, Play-Making Ability
Jimmy Butler	Shooting, Play-Making Ability
Isaiah Thomas	Undersized
Draymond Green	Shooting, Undersized

Examining the two drafts evidences that NBA personnel executives, in a manner of 12 months, were able to quickly recognized attributes that indicated elite NBA talent (size notwithstanding).

Elite Talent Selected Outside of the Lottery since 2013-2016

While the NBA has been able to clean-up the overall trend of allowing elite talent to fall outside of the lottery, the caveat here is that since 2013 three players- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Nikola Jokic- have all gone on to become elite NBA talents (again Jokic has yet to make an All-NBA or All-Star team but league-wide consensus is the he is an elite NBA player). The commonality among these players is that they all came from international leagues: Antetokounmpo from the Greek A2 league; Gobert from Cholet Basket of the French League; and Jokic of the Adriatic League.

NBA executives recognized this trend from 2013 and 2014 and quickly placed an increased emphasis on preventing elite international talent from falling outside of the draft. When comparing the 2013 and 2014 NBA draft to the 2014 and 2015 NBA draft, in 2013 and 2014, Dante Exum and Dario Saric (both selected in 2014) were the only international players selected in the lottery of the two drafts. In 2015 and 2016, six international players were selected in the lottery of the tow drafts.

However, potentially elite still made their way to fall through the cracks (I’d like to note here that the players below have less than two years of NBA experience and the analysis below is based off of an examination redrafts of the 2015 and 2016 NBA drafts from popular sports websites where players have outperformed their pick selection).

Willy Hernangomez (drafted 35^th in 2015), Ivica Zubac (drafted 32^nd in 2016), 2016-17 rookie of the year favorite Malcolm Brogdon (drafted 36^th in 2016), and Paul Zipser are all players that fell through the cracks. Hernangomez, Zubac, and Zipser seemingly fell through the cracks due to the still present lack of resources NBA franchises place on international scouting.

While I am not suggesting that Brogdon is similar to the caliber prospect of Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, or Draymond Green, Brogdon has elite NBA attributes (defense, strength, ball-handling) who similar to Leonard, Butler, and Green, fell in the draft due to their inability to shoot at a high level coming out of college.

Similarities to Fallen Draft Talent 2011-2012

In my 30 for 30 voice, what if told you that there was an NBA prospect, currently not projected to be taken in the lottery, that has the attributes of the elite talent that has fallen out of the lottery since 2011?

There is! His name is Terrance Ferguson.

Terrance Ferguson is a 6’7 guard/forward from Dallas, Texas. Ferguson made the unconventional decision to bypass college and play professionally in Australia for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian Basketball League. 

Like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas, and Draymond Green, Ferguson has attributes consistent of the elites athletes that fell out of the lottery in the past. He also has similar deficiencies that are currently causing him to be overlooked by teams drafting in the lottery.

Ferguson is similar to Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler in that he is an elite NBA attributes. At 6’7 he has ideal height for NBA wings. With 10 inch wide hands, he was one of only two wings players to have hands 10 inches or longer at the NBA draft combine. His 38 inch vertical leap was 6^th highest of any wing at the NBA draft combine (Kawhi Leonard had a 32 inch vertical and Jimmy Butler had a 39 inch vertical).

Ferguson’s shot 31.3% from the longer FIBA three point line (Butler shot 38.3%, Leonard shot 25% from the shorter college3 point line). With a 6’9 wingspan, Ferguson has adequate arm length to project in to a plus defender (Kawhi- 7’3, Butler- 6’7.5).

Similar to Draymond Green has size issues preventing him from being considered a lottery prospect. At 186 pounds, Ferguson is skinny! Kawhi Leonard weighed in at 227 pounds and Jimmy Butler weighed in at 222 pounds.

His slight of weight takes away from his positional versatility as he doesn’t have the size to guard NBA small forwards. Also, his slender frame does not project well for his ability to finish with authority at the rim.

The upside here is unlike Isaiah Thomas and Draymond Green whose height caused them to slide in the draft, NBA strength and conditioning programs can add muscle to his frame.

Ferguson is a streaky shooter but unlike Kawhi Leonard who had to reconstruct his shot, Ferguson’s mechanics are fine. He has bad balance on his three in half court offensives sets (which can be cured with weight gains) and tends to shoot the ball as he is still rising (which can be cured by repetitions in the gym).

Ferguson’s other major flaw is his ball handling going left. His dribble is a bit high and his accuracy is poor when making left-handed passes. With his large hands, a good development coach should be able to cure these ills in a couple of seasons (if not sooner).

Conversely, Ferguson has elite pedigree. Ferguson was a McDonald’s All-American and was rated as high as the 11^th rated senior in the class of 2016.

International Exchange

In my estimation, the primary rationale for Ferguson to lack of consideration as a lottery prospect is his path to the NBA. Ferguson considered Alabama and Arizona but ultimately played in Australia. In doing so, Ferguson took himself out of the sight of NBA scouts.

NBA scouts primarily depend upon consultation from international scouts and rarely make it overseas to scout prospects in person. However, international scouting has vastly improved over the past five years and NBA personnel executives are increasingly finding international scouting to be the equal of domestic scouting.

Another negative consideration in the eyes of NBA personnel executives, American players who traveled overseas to play between high school and the NBA have had mixed results (namely Emmanuel Mundiay and Bandon Jennings). 

Comparing Ferguson’s international experience to Mundiay and Jennings would be a grave misjudgment by NBA executives. Mundiay only played ten games overseas before succumbing to an injury that ended his international experiment.

Brandon Jennings played in the Italian League where player development of American players simply is not a point of emphasis. Jennings only averaged just over 17 minutes per game in Italian Series A play and only 19 minutes per game in Euroleague play.

Ferguson, on the other hand, started his internal career as bench player and ultimately carved out a role on the 36ers and earning 17 starts. Draft Express described Ferguson’s international experience as follows, “Ferguson is even getting some crunch time minutes in highly competitive games, and the coaching staff clearly has a role for him that he's very much bought into. He seems to be gaining more of a comfort level as the season moves on, and could be in line for a much stronger finish if he doesn't hit the proverbial rookie wall.”

The comment above is the most telling trait that bodes well for Ferguson. In a professional organization, Ferguson demonstrated the ability to embrace coaching and adopt a role and ultimately become an integral part of a team in just four short months. While talent and skill are ultimately the best predictors of NBA success, a player’s ability to matriculate within an NBA program is what propels talented players into NBA stars.

Ferguson is my bet to transcend his prospects as a mid-to-late first round prospect to blossom into an elite NBA talent.

If NBA personnel share my vision, Ferguson will go a lot higher in the draft than where he is currently projected.

Think Real Real Big: How the Cavs and Celtics could Catch the Golden State Warriors

It's time for Danny Ainge and GM LeBron to put their dicks on the table.

In case you missed the NBA finals, LeBron James, who statically played the best finals in the history of the NBA, was soundly defeated in five games. That same Cavaliers team destroyed the Boston Celtics in five games.

If either team thinks adding Jimmy Butler or Paul George will close the gap, then they're wrong. The Cavs would have to part with Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving to get either George or Butler. While a move of that magnitude would improve the Cavs, the Cavs would have three all-stars to the Warriors four.

Boston is even further away. In my opinion, they need three more all-star caliber players to even get a seat at the table with Golden State.

Both teams have to think bigger than Jimmy Butler or Paul George. I have the perfect trade that makes sense for both Cleveland and Boston.

Before you start crying, just know that New Orleans would also receive Bostons trove of assets including: 2017 #3 pick, the Nets 2018 unprotected 1st round pick, the Lakers or Kings pick from Philly for trading down, the 2019 Clippers protected pick, and Memphis' 2019 protected pick.

Why this Trade Works for Cleveland
Simply put, the Cavs came up short in the 2017 finals because they have three all-stars and Golden State has four. Swapping out Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert for Al Horford makes Cleveland worse defensively, but there's no sustained defense for Golden State. Thompson was horrendous against the Warriors. Horford has his rebounding deficiencies but Steph Curry got more boards that Tristan Thompson.

Adding Al Horford adds more versatility to the Cavs' offense. He can dribble hand-off, facilitate the offense from the high post, and stretch to three (all things Thompson lacks). Losing Shumpert's defense would hurt but his defense is replaceable for far less than his salary.

Most importantly, Cleveland adds a fourth all-star, more offensive flexibility, and allows the Cavs to employ the tactic that won them the championship in 2016, SIZE. A front court of James, Horford, and Love allows the Cavs to exploit the Warriors lack of size and rebounding while keeping pace with the Warriors offense.

Why this Trade Works for Boston
Boston's major flaw is their lack of front-line elite talent. Isaiah Thomas is, at best, the third best player on a championship team. He's the Celtics' best player. Adding Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins would give the Celtics a top five NBA talent at power forward (also the most versatile player in the league outside of LeBron James and Giannis) and the best offensive center in the league.

Adding the Brow and Boogie would also resolve their rebounding and front court shooting woes as both players stretch to the three. More importantly, the move adds elite talent while allowing Boston to enhance their cap flexibility. The deal would allow Boston to keep Bradley, Crowder, and Smart and still make significant upgrades in free agency.

It the Celtics move Bradley (which they have to do by February anyway), the Celtics could still sign Gordon Heyward this summer. Boston could also go the depth route and add the likes of a Joe Ingles and James Johnson with their remaining space and keep Bradley. Either way, the Celtics would roll out a line up with four all-stars or three all-stars supplemented by five starter quality players.

Option 1

I. Thomas	M. Smart
G. Heyward	A. Bradley
D. Cousins
A. Davis	A. Johnson
J. Crowder

Option 2

I. Thomas	T. Rozier
A. Bradley	M. Smart
D. Cousins	A. Johnson
A. Davis	J. Johnson
J. Crowder	J. Ingles

Option 1 allows the Celtics to trot out four starters that could drop 25-30 without hesitation. Option 2 would give Boston a line-up with three volume scorers and an incredible defensive starting line-up. Option 2 would also allow Brad Stevens to work his wizardy with flexible offensive and defensive players.

Why this Trade Works for New Orleans
While I think the Davis/Cousins experiment could be ultimately successful, it can't work in New Orleans. The Pelicans are a desperate franchise. They have to appease to Davis and Cousins but don't have the resources to do so. The Pelicans don't have a 2017 pick. They have dead weight contracts (hello Asik) and they would have to overpay Jrue Holiday in order to keep him.

The latter option is not preferable, considering Holiday's injury history. New Orleans simply do not have the resources to get Davis and Cousins close enough to the Warriors to keep them happy. Cousins will brood, Holiday will injure, and Davis will become annoyed.

Including Davis and Cousins now allows the Pelicans to reset. The haul from Boston would include the Jaylen Brown, 2017 #3 pick, the Lakers 2018 pick from Philly (#1 or 6-14 as that Lakers aren't making the playoffs in 2018) or the unprotected 2019 Kings pick, Brooklyn's unprotected 2018 pick, the Clippers 2019 protected pick, and the Grizzlies 2019 protected pick.

In total, that's four potential lottery picks along with two additional first round picks. This treasure trove and an accompanying rebuild would allow New Orleans to gain Jaylen Brown and six potential lottery assets over the course of two years (if you include New Orleans protected 2018 1st rounder and their 2019 pick). Clearing the decks would allow the Pelicans to let Jrue Holiday walk and clear the salaries of Davis and Cousins.

By the time of the 2019-20 season, when the cap jumps to $120 million, the Pelicans would have given their young assets valuable experience and Shumpert's salary would be off the books. Thompson's $18.6 million dollar salary would be a bargain for a starting big (only 15.5% of the cap) and the Pelicans would be looking at having $50 million to throw at free agents in 2020 (right in time for the Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard free agencies).

The Big But...

After trading Chris Paul in 2011, trading Davis and Cousins would kill basketball in New Orleans!

That might not be such a bad thing!

Seattle Supersonics
Killing basketball in New Orleans may not be such a bad thing if it results in the return of the Seattle Supersonics. Basketball has always had its struggles in the Big Easy. New Orleans is one of the smallest TV markets in the league and relocating the team to Seattle would be a major boon for the league.

While Benson the 89 year old settled his financial with his heirs, adding a couple billion to his estate would go a long way to maintaining the peace.

Seattle, full of billionaire investors, could easily muster 2.5-3.5 billion to move the team to the Northwest, pay off any debts the team would owe the city of New Orleans, and build a killer new stadium. A sale would increase the value of the other 29 franchises as it would take the least valuable team in the league and make it one of the most valuable.

The NBA would also correct a grave injustice by restoring basketball in Seattle and would allow New Orleans to fully recover from Katrina before revisiting NBA basketball again.

All in all, this trade is good for the league. It would restore competitive balance to the league by creating two additional super teams to battle Golden State in the short-term and lead to an increase the value of league by nudging the Pelicans to Seattle.

Can Danny Ainge and GM LeBron make this happen.

Sports Comment Section Rhetoric, Racism, and Jason Whitlock

Jason Whitlock’s Willful Embodiment of Bigoted Sports Comment Section Rhetoric is Akin to Modern Day Uncle-Toming

During the 2016 presidential election comedian John Stewart explained Donald Trump winning the Republican primary in the following manner,

“He [Donald Trump] makes sense if you view it through the prism of talk radio and it [conservative talk radio] is 24-7 of ‘your country is being taken away from you…’ It is ‘you’re being run by a tyrant, he’s going to take away your rights, we are falling, and there are rapists and murderers at the border coming to kill you.’ If that’s what you’ve been fed and that’s what you’re buying into then Donald Trump makes more sense than anyone else out there.”

Jason Whitlock’s resurgent reemergence in the sports headlines  makes sense in the same vain that the Donald Trump presidency makes sense.

Sports Comment Section Rhetoric

In my opinion, the comment sections of sports-related websites are remarkably similar to conservative talk radio in that these comment sections are a platform for unashamed bigotry.

I don’t have the bandwidth to detail the intense levels of bigotry espoused by those commenting in sports sections whenever a minority athlete is the subject. If you are predisposed to type of torture, google Colin Kaepernick or LeBron James or Richard Sherman or any other sports related content that features a minority athlete. Read the comment section and survey the amount of coded and outright bigoted comments.

Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Plus have successful partnerships with sports sites to authenticate commenters in order to stem a lot of this bigotry by attempting to deny these bigots anonymity. Unfortunately, the level of bigotry remains so intense that the majority of sports websites hire moderators whose sole purpose is to scrub their site of bigoted comments. Furthermore, this intense bigotry has caused many sports sites to discontinue the ability to allow their readers to comment on their content.

Not surprising, the tone and tenor of these comments, if not flat out racist, are much more critical of minority athletes than white athletes (google Kevin Love, Gordon Heyward, Ryan Anderson, Kyle Korver, JJ Reddick, or Kelly Olynyk and survey the adjectives used by sports section commenters to described these guys in comparison to our earlier google search).

Racism

Jason Whitlock discusses race on a regular basis. During the past ten years, nearly every time Whitlock has discussed race I’ve found his perspective to be somewhere between being off-base to being completely illogical.

His take on race when LeBron James had “nigger” spray painted on his Los Angeles home landed on the illogical end of the spectrum. Whitlock said, “Racism is an issue in America, but it’s primarily an issue for the poor. It’s not LeBron James’ issue.”

Let’s ignore the tacit admission of self-hatred by associating a subject he acknowledges as a major problem (racism) with poverty. I’m more focused on his suggestion that you can transcend racism.

The thing about racism, is that it is a belief system! It is a belief system that members of a race possess innate characteristics that distinguishes one as either inferior or superior to another race.

The things we witnessed in the past (slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow) and the things we witness today (epithets, vandalism, murder at the hands of police) are symptoms of racism. These atrocities happen because people carry a racist belief system.

Despite the many attempts of Uncle Toms preceding Whitlock, a person’s belief that one is innately inferior or that one is innately superior is beyond the sphere of transcendence afforded by wealth or social status.

The troubling thing is Jason Whitlock knows better.

Jason Whitlock

Whatever you think of Whitlock’s opinions, he cannot be denounced as a poor journalist. He’s actually a pretty damn good journalist.

Whitlock has been a reporter or columnist for several renowned newspapers, has been published in the New York Times, and is the only sports journalist awarded the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Commentary.

Whitlock is keenly adept at identifying provocative topics. That’s a great ability to have in the commentary business.

The problem is, Whitlock is often tactless and makes poor career choices.

Whitlock left the ESPN platform to work for AOL Sports and made a racist and stereotypic sexual comment about Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin. Upon returning to ESPN, he severely mismanaged its African American focused affinity site, TheUndefeated.com, so poorly that he was fired before the site officially launched.

Combined, his tactlessness and poor career choices resulted in a spiraling career where his platforms were not aligned with his journalistic talent. After being fired from ESPN and TheUndefeated.com, Whitlock employed his keen journalistic instincts to reintroduce himself as the Donald Trump of sports commentary.

I believe Whitlock recognized that the bigoted rhetoric used by Donald Trump was eerily similar to the toxic rhetoric espoused in sports comment sections. Whitlock’s firing from ESPN occurred the same month Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign.

Whitlock understood that there is a distinct conservative resentment of ESPN as many conservatives view ESPN as being ultra-liberal. Whitlock realized that he was uniquely qualified to be the perfect messenger for conservative sports bigotry. See, if Curt Schilling says something provocative, he gets fired but, as an African American, Whitlock is bulletproof when giving his opinions on race.

Whitlock reinvented himself as the Black man who will say the things sports comment section bigots think and want to hear. Furthermore, Whitlock, a Fox Sports 1 employee, will champion the conservative cause against the liberal monster that is ESPN.

While I fully acknowledge Whitlock has been giving provocative race related commentary for many years, his previous work, while disagreeable, was often nuanced and thoughtful. His new shtick is sheer trolling.

For instance, when laying out his inspiration for TheUndefeated.com in 2013, Whitlock claimed that intersection of race and sports was under-reported and the Undefeated.com would delve deeply into race and sports. However, in 2017 Whitlock says that race is not an issue for LeBron James (and millionaire athletes by proxy).  How, in 2013, could Whitlock claim that the intersection of race and sports to be under-reported and part of the inspiration of his site but in 2017 claim that race is not under the purview of millionaire athletes? These are questions only opportunistic hypocrites can answer.

Since his firing at ESPN Whitlock fired off several tone-deaf attacks on LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and other black athletes and celebrities in an effort to regain his lost stature. Whitlock’s plan is working. His recent commentary, a more pronounced a gumbo of Sambo Black privilege, bigoted coded-language, and white apologist rhetoric, has him entrenched in the headlines in 2017.

Michael Eric Dyson referred to Jason Whitlock as, “a ventriloquist for white supremacy.” I hope that Whitlock willful embrace of coonery is not as beneficial for him as bigotry has been for Donald Trump.  

Either way, I feel bad for Whitlock. I feel worse for the people that raised him.

Colin Kaepernick, Castro, Cuba, Race, and the Collective Consciousness of the African Diaspora: Holding Dan Lebatard to Task for his Assessment of Kaepernick’s Embrace of Fidel Castro

While the basis of this post will focus on Dan Lebatard’s recent radio show analyzing Colin Kaepernick’s embrace of Castro, let me start this off by noting that this is not a hit piece against Lebatard.

I love his show. In determining which show on earth has the best content throughout all of media, I often vacillate between The Right Time with Bomani Jones and the Lebatard show.

I can claim enthusiastically, that I get his show! But Monday, Dan failed to get his own show when he claimed Kaepernick to be out of his depth in embracing aspects of Fidel Castro.

For a show that’s so acutely conscious of race in America, Dan’s proximity to Miami and, I believe, his Cuban lineage were obstacles preventing him from comprehensively analyzing Kaepernick with the same nuance he so adeptly applies to the racial and socio-political climate in America.

And I understand.

While I understand, I’d like to counter a few of Dan’s blind spots by asserting that that Kaepernick’s struggle for Black justice in America makes it understandable why he would embrace of aspects of Castro.

So… in my best Papi voice, Schokular!

Afro-Cubanos Pre-Castro

First, it would be disingenuous to discuss the Cuban Revolution without discussing race. Chattel slavery persisted in Cuba until 1886.  After slavery, Afro-Cubanos worked in the sugar fields where as sugar cane cutters, according to PBS, these mostly black workers, lived on the edge of existence.

These mostly Afro-Cubanos workers were only allowed work the sugar harvest for four months out of the year.  The rest of the year, near complete scarcity was the status quo.

Later, in pre-Castro Havana, the prevalence of American capitalism marginalized Afro-Cubanos as they were not allowed to work in city’s glitzy tourist industry. Even Cuba’s president, Fulgencio Batista, a mulatto, was denied membership into Havana’s racially exclusive clubs.

Worse, prostitution in Havana, then known as the brothel of western hemisphere, excelled as the city served up Afro-Cubano women children to satisfy the perverse sexual urges of its wealthy white tourists.

Consequently, Kaepernick shouldn’t have to qualify as a historian or sociologist to innately understand the commonality of oppression endured by pre-Castro Afro-Cubanos and African-Americans.  

Afro-Cubanos during the Dawn of Castro’s Cuba

Unlike the wealthier white professional class of Cuba, on the eve of and during Castro’s revolution, many Afro-Cubanos who favored western ideology did not have access to means that would have enabled them to flee. Furthermore, nearly all of the Afro-Cubanos who also braved the same treacherous 90 mile ride to Miami as their white countrymen were promptly denied entry and returned to the clutches of Castro.

(As an aside, even today, Haitians fleeing the most abject poverty in this hemisphere frequently face an arguably more treacherous trek to the land of opportunity yet due to the deep melanin in their skin, are returned to the shores of despair while white and mestizo Cubans [and dark Cubans that can hit a baseball really far] are perpetually welcomed to America with a hug of liberty.)

So upon conquering Cuba, when Castro proclaimed, “One of the most just battles that must be fought, a battle that must be emphasized more and more, which I call the fourth battle- the battle to end racial discrimination…,” it was refreshing words to the ears of those displaced by slavery in this hemisphere.

See, in nearly every other instance in the history of the world in which a non-black power structure engaged Black folks (be they colonized or members of the diaspora) their heads of states, at best, as in the case of European imperial powers, viewed us as farming equipment.

At medium, as in the case of the confederacy (and during its lead up), they desired our tarred, feathered, castrated, target-practiced, flayed, and ultimately hung & burning black bodies as the perfect backdrop for a Sunday southern post card.

At worst, as in the case of Belgium’s King Leopold II, who viewed the Congolese as livestock and their homeland as his personal butcher shop, who massacred 10 million souls and the mutilation of another 15 million (only a short 100 years ago).

So when Castro later stated that blacks and whites being educated together was the primary way for Cuba to mend their racial divide, it’s obvious to me why Kaepernick would identify with Castro’s investment in education.

Furthermore, I understand why Kaepernick would highlight Castro’s investment in free and universal healthcare when, during the 1990’s, according to the American Journal for Public Health, nearly one million African-Americans died prematurely when compared to white Americans, simply due to inequities in the American health care system.

Was Castro being disingenuous?   Who knows!

Irrespective of the strategic and tactical necessity of partnering with Afro-Cubanos, Castro’s comments about Blacks marked the first time in the existence of interaction with Blackness where the initial comments from a non-black head of state about Africans wasn’t one of hatred and disgust.

Considering Kaepernick’s quest, how could he not find these aspects of Castro at least somewhat endearing.

The Acknowledgement of the Horror of Oppression

Stugotz, the show’s co-host, said he thought it odd that Kaepernick would praise certain elements of Castro while not acknowledging his oppressive policies. The statement denotes a particularly tone-deaf double standard when considering the Kaepernick’s quest in America.

While Kaepernick did not articulate a comprehensive knowledge of the oppressions inflicted by Castro, it’s not odd for Kaepernick to deem immigration to a land where people who look like him are being savaged as counter-intuitive to seeking freedom.

Sixteen short months after Castro began his quest to take Cuba, here in Eisenhower’s America, racists in Mississippi were acquitted after cracking open the skull of sweet Emmett Till, choking him with barbed-wire, dislodging his eyeball from its socket and eventually fatally shooting him in the ear. 

Cubans flocked to Kennedy’s America as Blacks faced the sting of water hoses, the force of billy clubs, and the bites of German Shepherds while simply demanding basic civil rights.

Cubans urged for America as Johnson and Nixon’s reign shipped young Black boys to the frontlines of war in Southeast Asia- where those fortunate to survive left Vietnam and Cambodia with their veins infested with cocaine and marijuana.

Paradoxically, Reagan would declare war on the drug infested ghettos where their descendants lived while simultaneously financing a foreign war with the proceeds gained by overflowing these same neighborhoods with Contra drugs.

Clinton’s America would later label them super criminals, spawning the world''s largest prison industrial complex that devoures non-violent black drug offenders by the minute.

In Obama’s America, news accounts of Black Lives Matter protests bleed through stereo speakers as young black boys sit paralyzed in cars awaiting the approach of a deputy, hand on pistol.  These young men’s hands meld to steering wheels and dashboards petrified to flinch as even the most subtle movements can lead to a hail bullets.

Yet today, Cubans still flock to America.

And they should!

So yes Dan, Kaepernick understands the feeling of loneliness you feel now as world eulogizes Castro. He’s felt it his entire life as the world perpetually turns a blind eye to the affliction placed upon Black people. This is well within his depths!

Conversely, I cannot locate one instance in which African American journalists (or a journalist of any race) ever questioned a Cuban immigrant (or any immigrant) on how they can embrace America despite the horrors it has afflicted upon Black people.

We will never hear that question because Black Americans understand and empathize with desperation resulting from oppression and affliction.

So instead of proclaiming Kaepernick wrong and out of his depth, Dan Lebatard, you should have extended the same understanding and empathy to Kaepernick.

Time so sell some Ads!

Humility, Modesty and the Athlete of Color

Athlete Arrogance

I am personally drawn to so-called “crazy” athletes! Terrell Owens was must watch TV; Allen Iverson captured my imagination; I was astonished to personally watch Chris Webber take 50 SHOTS IN ONE GAME!!!! Serena C-walking after beating the brakes off of Sharapova in the Olympics made my week. I used to hate Mario Chalmers but I respect the fact that he felt like he could talk bad to Lebron.

I am fascinated with the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook dynamic and I’ll be closely monitoring the so-called Jimmy Butler/Derrick Rose beef. Something in me loves the arrogance displayed by professional athletes, particularly NBA Players.

While not an athlete in the traditional sense, I am harkened back to a few Beyonce lyrics:

                “I can do for you what Martin did for the people…”

I remember my good homie Chuck Dunn and me watching Beyonce’s Upgrade You video when she sung the lyrics. Upon hearing them, Chuck was like, “Yo she wildlin!” I said to him, “Shit… if she believe it, I believe it!”

Coming off an ACL tear, Derrick Rose, in all seriousness, said he’s the best player in the NBA. That’s arrogance! Russell Westbrook taking more shot than KD is arrogance. And I love it!

That’s the shit I need to see and hear from athletes; but is it truly arrogance? Arrogance is defined as “having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.” This leads me to Lebron James. To the public, Lebron says things that are quite frankly perceived as arrogant.

Although I have love-hate feeling about Lebron (#GoBulls), I have never thought him to be arrogant. When Lebron says, “I’m the best basketball player in the world,” I conceded the point. By definition, and despite how most folks feel about Anthony Davis, that is truth! Lebron is the best player world.

Considering he was not expressing and exaggerated sense of his own importance and ability, why was this quote deemed arrogant?

The Humble Athlete of Color

Baseball purist hate Yasiel Puig. They hate his bat-flips, prolonged stares at wrecked pitches and slow trots after his immense home-runs! Despite the fact that a healthy Puig is the primary draw for casual and millennial baseball fans, Puig is consistently beaned by pitchers and often scolded by baseball purists because he “doesn’t play the right way.” This sentiment is complete and utter bullshit and will be the death baseball unless baseball learns from the NBA and begin embrace the individual idiosyncrasies of their stars.

Fans and analysts outside of Charlotte hate Cam Newton’s brash and bravado! Personally, I’d feel like superman if I had to carry that sorry ass Panthers team to the playoffs.

Fans and analysts love when athletes, particularly Black athletes, are differential to themselves. I’m making this about race because my eyes don’t lie. Pre-coke Johnny Manziel steals the money-sign, throws a few touch downs at A&M and fans adore him. Furthermore, and in comparison to skill-set, Chandler Parsons is by far the ostentatious player in the NBA yet he receives little flack. Yet, NBA fans and analyst expect the Lebrons and Hardens of the world to be humble!

That is some bullshit! Personally, I view humility in the pejorative! Going further, in my opinion, humility is the most dangerous attribute associated to the humans. Humility is defined as “a modest or low view of one’s importance.”

Every day, millions of parents tell their children,” don’t cheapen yourself because just to fit.” Remarkably, fans and analysts expect the exact opposite behavior from Black athletes. There are 400 million self-professed basketball fans in the world. 150 million of them play basketball regularly. NBA players are outliers of the highest order as out of 150 million people who play the sport, NBA players are the 450 best of the group.

Players like Lebron and Westbrook are the in the top half-dozen of this sample yet fans and analyst expect them to be humble. Including breathing, Lebron and Westbrook are statistically better at their craft than anything the average person would ever do?

But why?

Appeasement to the Sensibilities of the Truly Average Fan

I believe the general public—cough white fans— is put off by the reflexive athlete. It’s simply bad business for Black athletes to appropriately recognize their greatness. Humility sells shoes and head phones, not the truth. The fans want to believe you’re one of the guys/girls.

In truth, professional athletes are better than us. They simply are immensely proficient in a highly valuable craft while the vast majority of us aren’t. I respect their greatness and look forward to the day when athletes have carte blanche to truly express their greatness without financial consequence. I need professional sports where the stars have ricks James disease!

Back to the race card! I find it ironic that athletes of color are scolded for their arrogance while Donald Trump is, at least at this point, a serious presidential candidate solely due to his bravado. On that note, I’m going to sip some tea!